Schulte shines in semifinals

Adam Candee

Friday, Feb. 28, 2003 | 10:18 a.m.

Schedule

Boys Today's 2A fnal

Faith Lutheran vs. Meadows, 5 p.m. Today's 4A fnal

Palo Verde vs Cheyenne, 7 p.m. Girls Today's 4A final

Bishop Gorman vs. Centennial, 8:45 p.m.

RENO -- A few stray blond locks emerging from his off-center Chicago White Sox cap, his eyes wide as can be and his excitement stifling every word, Nate Schulte looks and sounds every bit of a high school freshman standing in the shadowy halls of Lawlor Events Center.

On the court, however, Schulte played with the passion and poise of a veteran in contributing 20 points and 10 rebounds in Palo Verde's 60-57 victory against Durango in the 4A State Tournament boys' semifinals Thursday night.

"This is just amazing," Schulte said. "I can't talk right now, I can't even think."

Schulte's amazement is likely to increase tonight when the Panthers take on Cheyenne for the fourth time this year, this time for the state title. The game will be a rematch of last weekend's Sunset Region final, a 76-46 rout by the Desert Shields.

The Desert Shields have swept the Panthers in three meetings, including two blowout wins. Cheyenne reached the final by escaping 64-60 Thursday against Rancho in an afternoon semifinal.

"We were on a roll," Cheyenne coach Larry Johnson said of his team's first few playoff games. "You can't play like that every night."

The girls' championship game will also be a repeat of the Sunset Region title game, as Bishop Gorman and Centennial will square off for the third time this season. The Gaels shocked the Bulldogs, 51-49, last weekend after dropping the earlier matchup, 66-56, in December.

All four 4A semifinal games were decided by seven points or fewer in an exciting day of games, even though just a few hundred fans showed up at Lawlor to see it.

Impervious to the pressure of a state semifinal, Schulte frustrated Durango all night by controlling the offensive glass and scoring on second-chance opportunities.

"No pressure at all," Schulte said. "I feel confident in how our team can come together in big games."

A starter since the first game of the season, Schulte continues to impress Palo Verde coach Phil Clarke with his approach to the game. He did so Thursday by sinking 8-of-9 free throws and calling for the ball late in the game.

"He is just the most confident guy I've been around," Clarke said. "He is just all business. He doesn't fool around in practice and he doesn't fool around after practice."

"He really hurt us," Durango coach Al LaRocque said of Schulte. "I was telling the coaches, we're getting used by a freshman."

Palo Verde will need Schulte and anything else it can find against Cheyenne, which looked unbeatable over the past two weeks before Thursday's struggle against the Rams.

"We didn't crack," Johnson said. "We could have easily."

The Panthers played a tight game with Cheyenne late in the regular season, falling 60-55, and Clarke said he needs all the planning time he can get to prepare for the vaunted Desert Shields attack.

"We're thinking of different things," Clarke said. "We need to get off to a good start. It's that simple."

The past two weeks have been far from simple for Bishop Gorman's girls, who squeaked by Las Vegas, 55-53, Thursday night on Moneka Knight's two free throws with 7.6 seconds to play.

With the exception of Wednesday's quarterfinal win against Fallon, the Gaels have won their three previous games by five total points. Knight won two of them with late shots, and the third was the Gaels' upset of Centennial.

Players from both teams said the right things Thursday about not being concerned with who they play in the championship, but the Gaels and Bulldogs have developed something of a natural rivalry in recent years simply from consistently being two of the Valley's top teams and playing tight games

Centennial survived another tough matchup with Western to win, 65-58, in Thursday night's last semifinal. The Warriors played three close games with the Bulldogs this year, but dropped all three.